“I’m on your side.”

Are these words for…

1.  Picking dodgeball teams?   Nope.

2.  Political endorsement?   Nope.

3.  Hiding behind the dude with the bigger muscles?   Wrong again.

These four little words simply contain the best parenting advice I have ever received.

My friend and previous pastor Dan shared these words in a sermon once.  He simply said he tries to tell each of his kids (on a regular basis) that he is on their side.  He is FOR them, not against them.

Taking to heart these words has dramatically changed how I approach my kids.  More than once this has stopped me in my tracks before I open my mouth to correct them.  It reminds me that I am their parent to help them grow and mature – not to squash their behavior that is driving me nuts.

And it also helps my kids remember that my goal in life is not to make them miserable and take away all their fun.  I really really REALLY am on their side.  I want them to flourish under my God-given authority of parenting, not wither away from it.

This really seems like a “duh.”  Who doesn’t know this?

To be honest with you, I didn’t know it.  I thought I did.  I would have told you I did.  But my parenting history reveals otherwise.

Writing this post is just one more way I’m trying to saturate my own heart with these words.  I want the phrase, “I’m on your side” NOT to be something that my kids just hear me say, but something they believe to be true by my actions towards them.

Thanks Dan – you rock!!!